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Brazil's Bolsonaro still hasn't conceded defeat, over a day after Lula da Silva's win

Published November 1, 2022 at 12:32 PM EDT

TOPSHOT - Brazilian President and re-election candidate Jair Bolsonaro waves at supporters after voting in the presidential run-off election, on his way to Galeao airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 30, 2022. - After a bitterly divisive campaign and inconclusive first-round vote, Brazil elects its next president in a cliffhanger runoff between far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP) (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images)

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — There is silence from current Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's runoff election, denying him a second term. More than 36 hours after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's victory, Bolsonaro still has not conceded.

The outspoken right-wing populist Bolsonaro has remained uncharacteristically quiet. He hasn't even issued a public statement.

His communications minister said Bolsonaro plans to meet with the country's Supreme Court justices but will not contest the election results, Reuters reported late Tuesday morning.

Da Silva, a leftist former two-term president, won the election with 50.9% of the vote, compared to Bolsonaro's 49.1% — the slimmest margin in Brazil at least since its return to democracy in the 1980s.

Bolsonaro's continued silence has fueled concerns that he may refuse to recognize the results, as he has previously warned. But some of the incumbent's allies have acknowledged the election defeat, and the fact that da Silva's victory has also been acknowledged abroad would make it much harder for Bolsonaro to contest the results.

Bolsonaro allies say he will concede, but will not congratulate da Silva.

Speaking to supporters in São Paulo on election night, President-elect da Silva said, "Anywhere else in the world, the president who lost would have called me by now and conceded."

Meanwhile, truck drivers loyal to Bolsonaro continue to block roads in at least 13 different Brazilian states, leading to major disruptions. The road to São Paulo's international airport was blocked and many flights were canceled due to disruption.

Many truckers are among the most diehard of Bolsonaro supporters, having benefited from policies such as lowering diesel costs.

On Tuesday morning, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered federal highway police to clear the blockades.

Bolsonaro once said "only God" could remove him from office and has repeatedly made unfounded declarations about electoral fraud throughout the election cycle.

But President-elect da Silva is moving forward with transfer plans. Local media are reporting that Lula, as he is popularly known, will start naming his transition team as early as Tuesday. He is due to take office on Jan. 1.